Memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) devices, are commonly used in a wide variety of applications, including personal computers. A great deal of effort has been devoted, and is continuing to be devoted, to increasing the speed at which memory devices are able to read and write data. Initially, memory devices operated asynchronously, and a single set of data were read from or written to the memory device responsive to a set of memory commands. The data bandwidth of memory devices were subsequently increased by reading and writing data in synchronism with a clock signal. Synchronously reading and writing data also allowed for other advances in the data bandwidth of memory devices, such as burst mode and page mode DRAMs, in which a large amount of data could be transferred with a single memory command.
Synchronous memory devices such as DRAMs initially transferred data in synchronism with one edge (either rising or falling) of a clock signal each clock cycle. However, with increases in the widths of data paths in synchronous memory devices, it subsequently became possible to transfer data in synchronism with both the rising edge and the falling edge of each clock cycle. As a result, these “double data rate” (“DDR”) memory devices transferred data twice each clock cycle. When data is read from or written to a DDR memory device, the data registered with both edges of the clock signal are internally transferred in a single read or write operation. Therefore, although DDR memory devices support twice the data bandwidth of a conventional synchronous memory device, they operate internally at the same speed as a conventional memory device. DDR memory devices are able to provide twice the data bandwidth compared to conventional synchronous memory devices because they have internal data paths that are twice as wide as the data paths in conventional memory devices.
In an attempt to further increase the data bandwidth of memory devices, DDR2 memory devices have been developed. Date are transferred to or from DDR2 memory devices on each edge of two adjacent clock cycles, although, like conventional DDR memory device, data are transferred internally over a relatively wide data path in a single read or write operation. Thus, DDR2 memory devices have twice the data bandwidth of conventional DDR memory devices, which are now known as “DDR1” memory devices.
At high operating speeds, the timing of a data strobe (“DS”) signal, which is used to capture write data at data bus terminals can vary somewhat. Therefore, in practice, a data strobe window exists during which data strobe signals are considered valid. The DS window is centered on each edge of a pair of DS pulses and extend before and after each edge by ¼ clock period. During each of these windows, the data applied to a data bus terminal of the memory device must be considered valid.
One problem that may exist with DDR2 memory devices is that noise on the DS line in a “preamble” prior to the first DS pulse may be misinterpreted as a DS pulse, particularly where the DS pulse is substantially delayed relative to the data. As a result, the first and second edges of the first DS pulse, (i.e., DS0 and DS1) will be interpreted as the third and fourth data strobe transitions DS2 and DS3, and the true DS2 and DS3 transitions will be ignored. Under these circumstances, the incorrect write data may be strobed into the memory device.
There is therefore a need for a circuit and method that is substantially immune to noise on the data strobe line of DDR2 memory devices to avoid capturing spurious data.